Studio7 Shout Out!

I couldn't be prouder for each of my athletes who toed the line in Louisville and Wisconsin this year! Each one of them took on the challenge exceptionally well. To see each of them work through the challenges that an IM can bring was simply awesome.

Below is the IML/IMW 2010 crew that truly represented (in alphabetical order):

Julia Bonner

Scott Ellison (1st IM)

Kyle Frank (1st IM)

Jason Jordan (1st IM)

Josh Hayes

Mark Mahoney

Gary Martin (1st IM)

Mark Schuler (1st IM)

Todd Spanish (1st IM)

Jenn Tiepen (1st IM)

Dirk Wuensche (1st IM)

As a coach who takes great pride in each of his athletes I find the closing hours of an IM especially special. Some of the most intense battling takes place in the last 2 hours of an event of this length. Those who scorch the 140.6 in the low 8 range certainly battle, but I also believe the folks who are finishing with an hour to spare are something special.

I'd be remiss if I did not give Meredith Dolhare a congrats as well for tackling Roth (IM) and Regensberg (IM) with two weeks seperating the two events. She then took on one of the most challenging endurance events around; Powerman Zofingen five weeks later. A superb showing indeed!

---

On the "IM in 10" end of things I am grateful to report that I was able to execute a 7 mile run at Madison w/ minimal issues. So, in the upcoming weeks I will be dialing in on adding some 'finishing touches' to my IMF 2010 preparation.

I am really looking FWD to sharing my journey and trumping traditional thinking with respect to IM preparation.

Stay tuned troops...Coach L

Ironman Louisville 2010

Its 'chilly' here in Louisville - seriously. Could not believe that I was acutally cold this morning as I walked to Einstein Bagel. The scene is vibrant and there is plenty of fit looking folk walking the streets of Louisville. Its hard not to get all fired up about Ironman when you are at the race site of one. If I could I'd jump in on this one on Sunday. Below is a quick vid from my room at Louisville:

This was the first day I was able to 'workout' and I was gitty to get my heart pumping again. Mark Olson and I took off to the University of Louisville Nata torium with hopes that we could hit the water there: http://www.uoflsports.com/facilities/lou-facilities-natatorium.html

Long story short, we walked into the place like we had swam there for years. Not a soul questioned our presence. They must have wrote us off as grad students or profs. So, we get into the pool area and there was not a single person in the water. We were fired up and quickly put suits on while on the deck (a comical story in itself as you can imagine). 30 minutes later and a mile or so under our speedo and we were done. Still, not a soul to be seen at this beautiful facility. Whats the deal we thought. This explains it:

I'd go back again tomorrow. Lesson learned: make sure to read the back of signs when things just don't seem right. The front of the sign was 'pool rules'.

Oh, no issues w/ the knee and water proof band aids don't work. After just 200 yds they were in the filters of the pool. Feeling great despite not being in the water since Latta.

Stay tuned friends,

Coach L

~1 week post-op

Happy to report that the knee is responding very quickly to rest, ice (Polar Care 500), TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), and some good old fatty fish; salmon.

Amazed at how quickly the knee has returned to 125 degrees of flexion.

Walking without any noticeable limp. Luke did take a poke at me as he mimiced my 'surgery induced swagger' the other day.

Looking FWD to seeing how all this pans out per the vision of taking on IMF in November.

As noted previously, I am very optimistic that IMF will be possible, but goals will have to be shifted quite a bit. The hopes of Kona qualification and butting heads with the big boys has long been dismissed. I'm totaly cool with that and actually find it somewhat refreshing to toe the line with no stringent expectations.

The one thing that has stayed relatively consistent this year has been the strength training. So, I look forward to seeing how this KEY component to IM training works in my favor in 2010.

Off I go to ice and elevate. Have a great day folks!

Coach L